


Thanks to the gods

by KassandraOfSparta (jaimelannisterisanerd)



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 04:54:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17440328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaimelannisterisanerd/pseuds/KassandraOfSparta
Summary: Myrrine notices something about Kassandra, and Brasidas is only injured in the Battle of Amphipolis. Is he?





	Thanks to the gods

**Author's Note:**

> From a prompt, I was asked to write a fic with some Kassandra and Brasidas angst. So here it is ;)

 

Kassandra had always been smart when it came to matters of sex, when she had reached an appropriate age, some of the older women on Kephallonia had taken her aside and explained the things that her mater had not done yet before that day. They had given her a talk that Markos would never have even have thought to give her, as well as telling her about herbs and concoctions that would stop her from conceiving should she wish to not. They didn't however tell her how to work out if she might be pregnant or not, seeming to think that it would not be an issue if they had told her how to prevent it in the first place.

She of course had worked out over time, listening to snippets of conversations from women in various villages that she had stayed, that there were other signs apart from a growing belly. It seemed of little importance to her really, she was safe when she bedded men, she didn't need to worry when she took women to her bedroll either. Her bleeds had always been light, especially when she had started to travel the land, and for that she was grateful when she had heard the stories of how other women's bleedings were. She had left an offering of thanks to Aphrodite for allowing her to go about her life with barely any problem, wishing for it to continue. She had never imagined many times having a family, of course sometimes she imagined having a son to teach to fish, a daughter who she would train in the subtle art of how to gut a man, but there had never really been a face to the father of the children, knowing that it was all just a flight of fancy. She was a misthios, she could not settle down with a family, especially once she had been dragged into the fight against the Cult of Kosmos.

 

“There is no shame in it, Kassandra, you can speak with me”

“Mater?” Kassandra asked, turning to look at the woman who had sneaked into the room without her daughter knowing, closing the door behind her. She was due to leave soon, to meet the Spartan armies, to find the snake Kleon hopefully on the battlefield to end his poor existence.”I don't know what you are talking about”

She watched as Myrrine raised an eyebrow, moving away from the door and going to sit on the bed next to where Kassandra had been standing attempting to put her clothing on.

“One of my regrets as your mater, is never teaching my young daughter the way of a woman's body”

Kassandra had no idea why her mater would bring such things up now that she was a grown woman, past the stage where she could learn anything about her own body, or that of other women's. She finished squeezing herself into her armor, mildly annoyed that perhaps the man who had made it for her had got her sizes wrong, it was just some weeks old.

“I had adequate lessons from the women on Kephallonia”

There was a silence between them for a few seconds, in which Myrrine stood and placed her hands on her daughter's cheeks, smiling at her softly.

“You have become a beautiful woman, Kassandra”

“I think I have you to thank for that, mater”

Kassandra smiled as Myrrine chuckled and shook her head, moving her hands to her daughter's shoulders and then down to her hands, a serious look coming over her face.

“Have you taken a man to bed in the last weeks?”

Kassandra was not prepared for that question to come from her mater, letting out a noise of surprise as she moved away from her and held her hands up. She knew that women were open about such things in most places, but coming from this woman it felt odd, like it was from a place of caring rather than just a passing fancy to see who had bedded who recently.

“Mater, I...”

“Kassandra”

“Yes, some weeks ago”

Her words came out hurried, slight annoyance lacing her tone as she crossed her arms over her chest, vaguely motioning to Myrrine with one hand.

“And some weeks before that too, if you have to know”

“Have you bled since then?”

“...Mater I..”

“Kassandra”

Myrrine's tone left no room for argument and Kassandra suddenly felt like a child again, not a grown woman who had almost raised herself once her family was lost to her.

“I can't remember, I'm..my bleedings are light, I barely notice them. Why?”

She watched as her mother's eyes flicked down to her belly, then up to her face again, feeling her stomach drop slightly when she realised what her mater was possibly speaking of. No, she couldn't be. She was careful. She always was.

Apart from that time while they had both been tracking another member of the cult and had been distracted from their duties while in a small house that...oh gods. It had been frantic and rushed and heated, they hadn't even taken their armour off, just pushed it aside, and then gone about their tracking.

Kassandra looked down at the floor, then up to her mater who put her hands on her cheeks again, stroking them with her thumbs and leaning up to kiss her daughter's forehead softly.

“I can't be. I have so much to do, I..”

“I've seen you struggling to do your armour up recently, I have noticed some..changes in you”

“Changes?”

Kassandra narrowed her eyes and Myrrine let out a laugh when she saw it, keeping her hands on her daughter's cheeks.

“When you were training, your stomach is not as toned as it was”

The mithios huffed when she heard that, crossing her arms over her chest, and she was most definitely not pouting at all, whatever gods were her witness.

“It is”

“Kassandra you have that same look as when you were a child when you were huffing and puffing at not being allowed to used a real sword, or when your...Nikolaos would tell you that training time was finished for the day”

There was a silence between them, Kassandra staring at the wall just behind Myrrine's head instead of her mater, her stomach feeling like she was on the Adrestia in a storm. She then shook her head, kissing her mater's forehead and stepping away to grab her bag from the floor, picking up her weapons and sliding them around her waist.

“I haven't had any sickness, that comes with pr...whatever you think I might have, does it not? I have to go, Barnabas will be waiting. Be safe mater”

She ignored Myrrine calling her name as she left the room, making her way out of the house and whistling for Phobos, climbing onto him and making her way in the direction of the docks before her mater could follow her.

 

“What is on your mind?”

Kassandra glanced to her right when she heard Barnabas' voice, smiling at her friend as she leaned on the railing of the Adrestia, the sea calm on the last bit of their journey. She didn't know what the next few days would hold, but she knew that a battle was brewing, and she knew that she would once again be reunited with the man who had helped put her in the situation that she was in turmoil about.

“Just thinking, I've never thought too far into the future to imagine what I would have, I never had the luxury”

“And now?”

“And now I feel..” she trailed off, looking back over at the sea and frowning “Despite everything, the cult, the war, I feel like everything on the other side of it will be okay, in the end”

“An optimistic outlook, one you should keep a hold of”

Herodotos' voice this time on her left and Kassandra spared him a smile as well, patting him on the back and nodding.

“One day you will be famous for writing about my escapades around this country, I hope you have more than enough time for them”

She left the two men laughing, making her way down the stairs onto the main deck, her smile fading.

 

The battle had gone by in a blur, like they always seemed to do when she looked back on them, she saw her brother going for Brasidas. She had warned him over and over and over to not engage Deimos in one on one combat, it would be his death, as even one of the best soldiers Brasidas was outmatched by Deimos in every way and Kassandra knew it. She had seen the spear go through him, she had heard Brasidas' voice rip from her throat before she threw herself at Demios, staring at the manic grin on her brother's face, part of her wanting to ignore all the promises she had made to their mater and drive her spear through his neck at that second. Kleon had made the decision for her though, the man couldn't even fire an arrow properly, missing the shot that Kassandra assumed was aimed at the back of Deimos' head.

She had shown Kleon no mercy, keeping her foot on the back of his head until he had stopped struggling in the pool of water, calling him a worm for begging for his life like the coward he was. Kassandra had only removed her foot when he had stopped moving, falling limp at her feet as the weight of everything crashed down around her. She had collapsed back onto the sand, sitting staring at the sea in front of her and vulnerable to anyone who decided they might like to come up and take her from behind, but there was a part of her that just didn't seem to care. She had seen the spear go through Brasidas, she didn't know where it had entered and exited, just that she had seen it go through his upper body somewhere. No-one would survive that, not even a man like Brasidas. Her entire life she had tried to be in control at least a little bit, and now it felt like all that control was unravelling and leaving her feeling vulnerable.

“Eagle Bearer?”

Kassandra turned when she heard the hesitant voice, seeing a group of Spartan soldiers standing a little way from her, looking none too worse for wear despite having just come from a battlefield. She stroked Ikaros' stomach feathers, the eagle having been perched on her leg for some time, seemingly knowing that she needed a friend for comfort. She sighed, pushing herself to her feet and letting Ikaros hop up to her shoulder, grabbing her weapons and sheathing them as she nodded to the soldiers.

“What is it?”

“They found Brasidas, they dragged him from the field to the physician, the only word he said was your name”

“He's alive?”

Hope filled her and Kassandra felt an energy that seemed to have been lost to her, return to her, striding towards the men who nodded and shrugged.

“For now, he is in a bad way. The physician asked us to fetch you”

Kassandra thanked them, not waiting any longer for them to speak before she began to stride towards the Spartan camp, hope kindled again in her.

 

“Eagle Bearer, you are a welcome sight. The men tell me that there would have been many more wounded had you not been there to help”

Kassandra just vaguely nodded, staring at Brasidas laying on the cot in the middle of the tent, skin pale, bloody cloths around him and his armour stripped from him. He looked vulnerable, but the slow rise and fall of his blood covered chest gave her some more hope that she needed. The spear that she had seen enter his body was jammed near his shoulder, sawn off at either end to allow for them to move him it seemed.

“Will he live?”

The physician shrugged and shook his head, Kassandra's stomach dropping again.

“I can only do so much, it is for the gods to decide his fate. I have given him something to put him in a deep sleep”

Kassandra nodded, moving over to wrap her hand around Brasidas' larger one, seeing the physician turn away to give them some privacy. Perhaps it was no secret amongst the Spartans that Brasidas commanded of their relationship, it didn't surprise her really and it made her proud that perhaps they did know that she and Brasidas were lovers. She could see his face covered in sweat, his eyes twitching under his lids, and her heart sunk when he didn't close his fingers around hers like he always did when she put her hand in his. She remembered the times that they had laid together in bed, holding hands and speaking quietly about what they wanted from life, neither of them mentioning what they both really wanted but both of them knowing deep down. The gods had blessed her with her soul mate in Brasidas, and now they would take him away from her, just like they had done with everyone else that she had loved. A shout from outside the tent got their attention and calls for the physician, who glanced at Brasidas and then quickly left the tent, calling out to ask what he was being summoned for.

Kassandra took the opportunity to lean down and kiss Brasidas's forehead, tasting blood and sweat there.

“Come back to us” she murmured, hoping that somehow he would hear her and understand, gripping his hand tightly and sending a prayer to whatever gods were listening that they would give her Brasidas back.

 

“You shouldn't look so mopey all the time, the wind will change and your face will be stuck like that” Kassandra commented as she made her way towards her brother, the man turning his head quickly to look at her, before looking back over at the sea that he had been staring at. With a sigh, Kassandra sat herself down next to him on the grass verge above the sand, looking around and waiting for him to speak.

“You shouldn't sit down like that, you might get stuck and need someone to help you stand”

Kassandra scoffed at his words, stretching out her legs in front of her and looking down at her belly, glad that Alexios could at least have this banter with her.

“I am not that big yet. Mater was looking for you”

There was a silence from the man next to her, which wasn't unusual at all in the past months that had gone on since they had been reunited.

“Should you not hate me”

“For what?”

“You know what for” Alexios' voice rose a notch in frustration, waving vaguely in the direction of her belly but keeping his eyes on the water.

Kassandra hummed and nodded, looking at her brother's face for a few seconds, then looking to the sea as well.

“I did, for a time after the battle when I stood in that tent with him, seeing your spear in his shoulder like that made me hate you. But I had promised mater that I would bring you home to her, and you were not fully to blame for how you were, that damned Cult was. I saw every time we met each other that there was part of you that was still there that was still _ours_ , not theirs”

“But your child may still grow up fatherless”

“As will a lot of children who lost fathers during the war, and to the Cult, and to famine, and to a whole lot of other problems. I have come to terms that it might be that way, I cannot mourn what might have been forever”

Alexios was quiet again, the siblings lapsing into a quiet silence once more, the only sound the crashing of the waves onto the beach in front of them, and the quiet noises of the birds. A whale broke the surface of the water and Kassandra saw Alexios smile at the sight, it was nice to see him smile. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of horses hooves approaching rapidly, Alexios at his feet in an instant with his hand on his sword.

“Eagle Bearer? I am looking for the Eagle Bearer”

Kassandra recognised the man who was an assistant to the physician residing over Brasidas' care the last few very long weeks, pushing herself to her feet and stepping towards him with urgency.

“What is it?”

“Brasidas, Eagle Bearer, he has woken up”

There was that hope again, filling her like it had done for a few seconds when she knew he had been taken from the battlefield alive, nodding quickly and whistling for Phobos who came trotting up the grass verge to stand next to her faithfully, nuzzling her hand with his nose and huffing. She wasted no time mounting him, looking quickly to Alexios who gave her a smile this time, nodding at her to go.

 

“The gods have blessed my eyes, finally”

Kassandra could have wept when she heard his voice and saw that cheeky, but still weak, smile when she stepped into the room he had been in for some weeks. He had colour back in his skin now, but he still looked like he had been to visit Hades and back again.

“It's nice for you to finally open your eyes for them to be blessed”

Kassandra smiled at him as Brasidas let out a quiet chuckle, wincing and moving his other hand to touch the bandages that still wrapped around his shoulder. He then held his hand out to her and Kassandra moved towards him without hesitation, taking his hand and entwining their fingers before pressing their lips together. It was all she had prayed for, to have him here with her again and here he was, smiling against her lips as he kissed her back.

“The gods answered my prayers” Kassandra whispered against his lips, sitting on the bed just next to him as he gripped her fingers and nodded “I think they got sick of me praying to them, if I'm honest with you”

Brasidas laughed, a noise that made her heart jump in her chest, she had missed that noise so much.

“You told me not to engage him, I didn't listen”

“It doesn't matter now” Kassandra whispered, stroking his cheek gently with her thumb and smiling at him “It is all over, the Cult is gone, the war is coming to an end. The physician told you that you had been unconscious for a while?”

Brasidas nodded, resting his head back on the pile of pillows propping him up, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

“He also told me that I may never fight for Sparta again”

The misthios nodded, she had been told the same some time ago when she had visited, the damage to his shoulder had been too great for him to fight in battle again should he survive, but had no doubt that he would be given the honor of training the young men in the agoge should he want that.

There was a silence between them for a few minutes, both of them exchanging soft kisses and touches in that time, before Brasidas' hand dropped to rest on his leg. Kassandra automatically moved slightly from him, assuming his hand would touch her belly, and she saw him frown.

“What is it, love?”

“Nothing for you to worry about now”

“Kassandra, you think I will not worry now you have said that?”

Kassandra flicked her eyes over his face, she had wanted to wait until he was stronger for this, but she knew that by then it would be impossible to hide. She had no idea how to tell him now that she had the chance, would he even be happy about it? Instead of words, she took his hand and moved it to rest on her belly, knowing that he would be able to feel the small curve there that had started to replace the muscles she had once had. Keeping her eyes on his face, she saw a look of confusion and then realisation cross his face, pushing up the thin layer of material of the overshirt that she had just thrown on that morning to go and visit Alexios in. She held it up for him, her heart jumping and her throat feeling tight as she watched and felt him trailing his fingers gently over the swell there, stroking it with his thumb.

“You have blessed me, Kassandra”

She heard his voice break, and she leaned in to kiss him firmly on the mouth, his hand staying on her belly as they kissed frantically as though he really would be gone if they stopped. Kassandra however stopped the kiss and rested their foreheads together, catching their breaths and smiling at each other as Brasidas' arm snaked around her back to keep her close.

“It will take more than a spear to take me from you”

“I would march all the way down to Hades to bring you back myself”

“Of that I have no doubt, my love” Brasidas smiled, still holding her close as he rested back against the pillows, pulling her gently closer so she could rest with him, Kassandra's head on his shoulder and her body curled up against him.

 


End file.
